In late 2000, a routine physical logged her blood sugar at 150 (90-110 is normal). A glucose tolerance test (used to determine the body’s reaction to sugar) “almost knocked me out,” she says. Her doctor’s suspicions were confirmed. At age 50, Mary had developed type 2 diabetes.

“I was terrified,” she admits. “I’d heard that diabetes causes people to lose their eyesight and toes.”

Though shocked because she didn’t have classic symptoms of type 2 diabetes, such as thirst or fatigue, she now realizes she shouldn’t have been surprised.

“I brought it on – I was overweight, eating poorly and had a family history of diabetes,” says Mary, now age 60. Her mother and maternal grandfather also had type 2 diabetes.

Mary Simpson lost her spouse to cancer. Then she faced a life-threatening condition of her own — type 2 diabetes. Here’s how she’s controlling diabetes today ...

After her diagnosis, she became obsessed with controlling her diabetes. She checked her blood sugar levels a dozen times a day – when she woke up and went to bed, before and after eating and exercise, and many times between. Still, she couldn’t get her numbers down and keep them there.“I was an emotional mess, and felt like I had no control over my body,” she recalls.

Her turning point came at a class on diabetes. There, she met a dietitian who advised her to go on a low-calorie, low-carbohydrate type 2 diabetes diet.

Counting carbs is important because dietary carbohydrates convert to sugar in the blood. The pancreas produces the hormone insulin to manage blood sugar and move it into the cells.

In a healthy metabolism, the system works beautifully, says Stephen Phinney, M.D., a nutritional biochemist and professor of medicine emeritus at University of California, Davis.

Mary Simpson lost her spouse to cancer. Then she faced a life-threatening condition of her own — type 2 diabetes. Here’s how she’s controlling diabetes today ...

“However, over time, our bodies get tired of processing high loads of carbs,” says Phinney. “Cells become more insulin resistant” and carbs become harder for the body to process.

Diabetes develops when the pancreas gets exhausted and can’t produce enough insulin to handle glucose in the blood, he says.

Mary has been controlling diabetes with her type 2 diabetes diet since January 2001. She consumes under 200 grams (g) of carbohydrates a day: 60 for breakfast, 45 at lunch, 45 at dinner and 15 for snacks. Most of her carbohydrates are complex (from whole grains) not simple carbs, which are primarily refined starches and sugars (breads, processed cereals, sugary sodas and baked goods).

“It was so much food, I couldn’t eat it all,” says Mary, who estimates her daily carb count at about 150 g.That’s significantly less than the average American who eats 250 g to 300 g a day, most of which are refined starches and sugars. Many doctors believe that excess dietary carbs is the leading cause of type 2 diabetes in the country.

Mary Simpson lost her spouse to cancer. Then she faced a life-threatening condition of her own — type 2 diabetes. Here’s how she’s controlling diabetes today ...

“If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all our problems with weight and metabolic disease,” adds Walter Willett, M.D., chairman of the department of nutrition, and professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health.

Mary’s breakfast usually consists of one-half cup of oatmeal, with one-fourth cup of berries, one-half cup of unsweetened almond milk and coffee. That keeps her going until lunch, when she typically has a sandwich of meat, cheese or tuna on whole-wheat bread that has less than 15 grams of carbs per slice.

Dinner is meat, vegetables and salad. Though she skips wine, she does occasionally enjoy low-carb beer.

Five months after she started her type 2 diabetes diet, Mary lost 50 pounds. A former size 14, she now wears a 6. Even better, her blood sugar levels are normal.

Mary Simpson lost her spouse to cancer. Then she faced a life-threatening condition of her own — type 2 diabetes. Here’s how she’s controlling diabetes today ...

Her A1C level, a more sophisticated blood test that indicates a person’s average blood sugar over the past 90 days, has been under 7 for 10 years. And she doesn’t need any medication for controlling diabetes.

She’s enjoyed other benefits, as well. She looks better and younger, and has a love life.

After her husband died and before she lost weight, she hadn’t been too concerned with her appearance. She had let her hair go gray and “felt kind of frumpy.”Today, the mom and grandmother sports brown locks with blonde highlights, looks younger than she did 10 years ago, drives a Harley and has a boyfriend.

“No one believes I’m 60 and have this great guy in my life,” Mary says. She and her boyfriend drive motorcycles all over the country.

“I can’t think of one activity my diabetes prevents me from doing.”

She credits her good health with her new awareness for nutrition.

“People don’t realize how many carbohydrates they consume, and that French fries are not a vegetable,” she says.

Mary Simpson lost her spouse to cancer. Then she faced a life-threatening condition of her own — type 2 diabetes. Here’s how she’s controlling diabetes today ...

To those who seek her advice, she says, “Lose the weight, really try to change your habits, and know that your life really is in your hands.”

Besides watching her diet and counting carbs, Mary uses other lifestyle measures for controlling diabetes. For example, she exercises most days, though she admits she should do more. On a good week, she walks daily for 30 minutes and weight-trains a couple days a week. She also tries to eat meals at the same time each day and get to bed by 11:30 p.m.

Mary is the perfect example of what it takes to put diabetes in its place, according to Andy Lee, M.D., an endocrinologist who specializes in diabetes and professor of medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.

“Lifestyle is the most powerful intervention in the management of type 2 diabetes,” he says.

Though Mary is grateful she caught her diabetes early, before the condition had done more damage, she doesn’t kid herself.“I know I will have [type 2 diabetes] the rest of my life,” she says.

“I may have to take medication, since I am getting older and the disease is progressive. But I feel really proud that I’ve taken good care of myself and have managed my condition this well for so long.”

Mary Simpson lost her spouse to cancer. Then she faced a life-threatening condition of her own — type 2 diabetes. Here’s how she’s controlling diabetes today ...

Consult your doctor if you think you’re experiencing diabetes. For more on this condition, visit our Diabetes Health Center.

In the United States alone, 23.6 million people have diabetes. And 5.6 million of them don’t even know it. Unfortunately, misinformation about diabetes is rampant – and mixing up the facts about this disease can have dire consequences. Are you confused about diabetes? Test your knowledge with our diabetes quiz.

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